India vs Australia: Glenn Maxwell’s make-or-break chance in Test cricket

Glenn Maxwell is a curious case. Not many rate him as a Test cricketer. Neither did he do anything special to be rated one. In limited-overs he bears the tag of ‘invincibility’ but yet manages to get dropped. He is a crowd-puller. He has a massive fan-following as well as has a set of detractors. It, however, does not stop his popularity transcend boundaries. In India a section christened him Glendeep Singh Maxwell for his association with Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). He is an enigma, who cannot be written off. But, there are doubts in place at the same time if he will be one

of Australia’s key players in their tour of India.

Maxwell’s last Test assignment came against Pakistan in UAE, in 2014. Lehmann had then said the all-rounder had been chosen because of his “x-factor”. Nonetheless, Brydon Coverdale, in his ESPNCricinfo article, explains the theory with great wit that sums up the situation: “and perhaps it is no coincidence that in mathematics “x” is used to represent the unknown.” Topsy-turvy turn in 2016-17 Maxwell returned to the Australian side with a bang in the T20I series in Sri Lanka. Opening the innings, he slammed a 65-ball 145 first and followed it with a 29-ball 66. Australia won 2-0. A month later, Maxwell was a surprise omission for the ODI series in South Africa. Travis Head got the nod ahead as the versatile explosive batter who bowls off-spin. As fate would have it, Australia went on to lose 0-5. Ironies continued further. At the start of the Australian summer, Maxwell could not find a slot in the Victorian side. There were divided opinions. Australian selector and a great of the game Mark Waugh put his weight behind Maxwell. “He should have been playing. From an Australian point of view, he’s quite capable of playing Test match cricket. You need to be asking the Victorian selectors why they left him out. It surely can’t be cricket-related because he would be in the team,” Waugh had told AAP. That’s not all. Cricket legend Allan Border seconded Waugh and mentioned that Maxwell should look for a new First-Class side. His teammate Peter Handscomb, who made it big for Australia this season, backed Maxwell and raised an eyebrow over the notion of his bad patch with the red ball, “Obviously the last red ball game he played was last year so what form can you go on? Do you go on that one or do you go on the most recent way you’ve seen him?” Maxwell had scored 392 runs at 56, with a strike rate of over 85 in the Sheffield Shield 2015-16. He did not bowl enough and clinched just 3 wickets. His exploits in Sri Lanka were still fresh in minds. When Australia were revamping the side after the beating against South Africa in Hobart that led to the series loss, there was a buzz about Maxwell being a part of the sweeping changes. The likes of Matt Renshaw, Handscomb and Nic Maddinson got a call-up. Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann was blunt while putting the Maxwell buzz to rest: “Are you going to pick a bloke that hasn’t made a [First-Class] hundred for two years?” By the time Maxwell made a return to the Victorian side, he found himself batting below his captain Matthew Wade, a wicketkeeper-batsman. Maxwell’s theory of a ‘wicketkeeper should be batting below a regular batsman’ did not go well. He was then picked for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy against New Zealand in Australia. He dug the axe to his foot when he ended up expressing his disappointment for batting below Wade in the press conference ahead of the first ODI. He went on to be penalised by the team. Captain Steven Smith had then said: “Everyone was disappointed in his comments and I’ve expressed that to him myself and spoke to the team. One of our values is respect and having respect for your teammates, your opposition, your fans, your media and I thought what he said was very disrespectful to a teammate and his Victorian captain. The leadership group got together and we decided to fine Glenn. We thought that was sufficient punishment. I was disappointed with the comments he made.” Maxwell remained out in all the three ODIs, watching Head make strides towards sealing a regular position. A section then kept backing Maxwell for a berth in the flight to India. However, former Australian leg-spinner Kerry O’Keeffe rubbished Maxwell’s batting technique in the longer format. In a YouTube video, he said, “That off-spin is not even handy. It’s dross (rubbish). It is perhaps the worst action for a spinner in First-Class cricket in Australia. Maxi’s action has fallen apart, because of that drive to bowl dot balls in Twenty20